Bosniak Cadres Failed to Block Arms Purchase for RS Ministry of Interior

The purchase of 2,500 rifles for the Ministry of Interior of the Bosnian entity Republika Srpska, whose ruling party SNSD harbors separatist aspirations, has made headlines in international media. The British Guardian reminds that the entity's Ministry of Interior bought 2,500 automatic rifles, "which is worrying given Russia's influence in that part of Bosnia and Herzegovina."

The American New York Times writes about how it is impossible to say how far Dodik is willing to go to achieve his goal of breaking up BiH. Citing analysts, the newspaper writes that the president of the RS entity is "ready to do anything to retain power."

The RS Ministry of Interior is procuring the semi-automatic rifles MO5E1 caliber 7.62 mm and M92 caliber 7.62 mm from the Serbian company Zastava. The entity government stated that the weapons are being procured as part of the modernization program for the RS police equipment.

"The rifles will be distributed to police stations and made available to members of the RS police in case of need and for interventions."

On the other hand, security experts warn that this is still a form of militarization of the police forces in that part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Two and a half thousand semi-automatic rifles are enough to equip more than one military brigade, which, according to standards, consists of a group of 1,500 soldiers.

Professor at the Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology and Security Studies in Sarajevo, Dr. Goran Kovačević, warns that the procurement of weapons - whose primary purpose is use in wartime conditions - is material evidence for the claims of the president of that BiH entity, Milorad Dodik, about the military capabilities of the entity's Ministry of Interior.

"So the message is clear - the territorial integrity and undisputed authority of the institutions in RS are guaranteed by the army codenamed RS Ministry of Interior," believes Dr. Kovačević.

Civil parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina are particularly concerned that the RS Ministry of Interior procured the weapons with all the necessary consent from the state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Four state ministries, as well as the Intelligence-Security Agency, gave their consent to the entity's Ministry of Interior for the procurement of 2,500 rifles. Some analysts state that it is additionally worrying that Bosniak cadres in these ministries did nothing to prevent this procurement, which indicates either their disinterest or insufficient competence. HDZ cadres in the ministries also supported the arms procurement.

The permit for import or export of weapons in BiH is issued by the state Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, but only after obtaining consent from three other state ministries: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, the Ministry of Defense of BiH, the Ministry of Security of BiH, as well as the opinion of the Intelligence-Security Agency of BiH. When the request for consent in the case of the procurement of these weapons arrived at the Ministry of Defense of BiH, several sectors of the Ministry participated in the preparation of the decision, in which, among others, Bosniak cadres work. Anyone of these cadres could have stopped, or at least warned about, this procurement.

"The final document itself, before being signed in the cabinet of Minister Pendeš, was signed by her two deputies; Sead Jusić and Boris Jerinić," explain unofficially from the Ministry of Defense of BiH to the Patria agency.

SBB is demanding the resignation of the director of OSA, Osman Mehmedagić, a close friend of SDA president Bakir Izetbegović. The Agency states that their opinion is not binding for the import or export of weapons. However, the public has not been presented with what opinion OSA gave regarding the procurement of weapons for the entity's Ministry of Interior. /A. A./